We acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Traditional Owners of the lands on which we together walk, live and raise our children.
We pay our respects to Traditional Owners past and present, future and any Aboriginal people present here today. We acknowledge the importance of children being raised with connections to culture, community and family
View our Acknowledgement of Country.
Inclusion statement
At QEC, we work together with families and communities to create a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming environment. We celebrate the different strengths and experiences that everyone brings.
We embrace diversity and want to make sure our places, processes, and services are fair, more accessible, and open to all.
It is important to us that people can express their beliefs, values and needs and that these are heard and understood so that everyone feels safe, respected, and a sense of belonging.
In May 2019, the Victorian Government announced a $123 million investment to expand and upgrade the early parenting centre network.
The initial investment includes:
Factors such as locations of existing centres, population growth, and levels of need for healthy child development were considered when deciding locations for the new EPCs.
The new EPCs will include:
The early parenting centres expansion and upgrade program aims to deliver the following benefits:
More families supported
The program will more than triple existing service capacity, allowing more than 5,000 extra families to be supported each year.
More in-centre residential services
The expansion and upgrade program will increase the number of services available to Victorian families. This includes residential family units, where families can stay overnight for support.
More support for regional and outer-metropolitan Victorian families
An expanded EPC network is getting us closer towards the goal of state-wide coverage, providing access to specialist parenting support for more families, closer to home.
Jobs for Victorians
The program will create and sustain around 400 construction jobs across the state. It will also create new job opportunities for multidisciplinary teams of qualified professionals to operate the new centres.
University short courses in early parenting.
Early parenting university courses providing students with the knowledge and skills to work with parents/carers with children under 4 years of age in a range of settings.
The boards of the Queen Elizabeth Centre (QEC) and Tweddle Child and Family Health Service (Tweddle) have recommended a voluntary merger to the Secretary for the Department of Health following five months of consultation, due diligence and independent analysis.
The QEC Baabak Hastings Early Parenting Centre is now officially open, bringing early parenting support closer to families across the Mornington Peninsula.
